The Changing Man (Doctor Who Fan Story)

Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

"I warned you, didn't I? She has told that monster where we were and he brought hell raining down upon us! Friends and family dead, all because of him! I say we shoot them both before anyone else dies!" Talyn had arrived as soon as he heard the commotion, his eyebrows were knotted together in a deep frown and his arms were folded feebly against his chest, a long red scratch had marred his pale cheek.

The damage done by the soldiers was plainly obvious, there was only a handful of people left, the ones that were injured during the escape were no longer here, but the surprise attack had created more injured people to replace the lost ones. Most of them stood behind Talyn, staring with curious or fearful expressions, while others tended to the wounded in their tents or by the small crackling fires within the forest.

""Hey! No one is shooting anyone alright? Now lets just calm down and discuss this!" The Doctor wandered around, running his hand through his messy hair, carefully placing himself in line of fire, in front of me and the Master.

"Look, I don't want Ashly to be harmed, but I don't mind if someone manages to plant a bullet in the Master's head!" Martha spoke, her voice full of venom.

The Doctor whipped around to stare at Martha in disbeleif, but it wasn't him who replied, it was me.

"Like I said before, if you want to hurt him, you got to hurt me first" I growled, I could feel the Master tense behind me and in my mind I heard his voice telling me not to get in the way if they decide to shoot. I silenced him with a flick of my tail, whipping him on his leg.

"But Ashly, don't you remember what he did to those people? That is why you left isn't it? All the experiments, the deaths of those poor people? Bringing him here was a bad idea, because now he can hurt them and us!" She took a step forwards as if to hurt me again, but the Master growled behind me, halting her advance in an instant.

The Master placed his hands on my shoulders, his touch sending a blissfull spark of electricity down my spine, and with his hands he moved me to his side so he could face everyone without hiding. He then spoke with a quiet and calm voice, his tone constant and his body was relaxed.

"I did not come here to hurt any of you, the only reason why I came was because of Ashly, she is the only person that I care about, and I didn't want her to get hurt. When you all escaped, they were planning to shoot you all down within the first few days, but I managed to completely destroy the base, so all that research and those machines are now gone, and in turn, bought you extra time"

"That explains the fire that we saw that night...But still, you experimented on those innocent people" murmered Jack from the background.

"Yes I did, only because they threatened to hurt Ashly and everyone that she loves. I can't live without her." he said the last part through gritted teeth, as though making a solid point, to get the truth out to the people, and in that moment, we turned to each other and our eyes locked.

"I won't leave you again" I whispered, my cheeks burning hot red and my hearts singing.

"Ashly, don't say that! He's lying!" Spat Martha

"He isn't Martha. I was on my own back there when Gunner was trying to kill me, I thought I was going to die but the Master saved me by tearing his arm off! He also tried to help you all, burning down the facility to buy us time and it worked for the most part. I left him once for you, but I won't leave him again. Ever." I stared at them all in the eyes, my intentions burning like the sun and my fists balling up as I continued "I'm tired, I'm so tired from fetching you all food and fighting off wasps and murderous men, so I'm going bed and I don't want to hear another word about this" My voice cracked on the last word but I managed to make my feet walk in the desired direction away from the centre of the makeshift camp to the outskirts, snatching the little tent box up as I passed.

I was too tired to notice that the people had melted away and that The Master followed behind me, his footsteps quiet upon the grassy floor. I found a comfortable spot where a small fire blazed a few metres away and pressed the green button, placing the box on the floor. The tent inflated within a matter of moments, and I quickly disapeared inside. I collapsed on the air bed and snuggled up into the thick blankets, layering them above me as though I was inside a cocoon, or a large cloud, my ribs were constantly stinging but so were my eyes, as exhaustion threatened to make my eyes fill up with tears.

The Master hesitated before following me inside but when he did, he zipped the tent up closed and turned to look at me under the mountain of blankets. Slowly he crossed over the small space and crawled under the blankets with me, his arms encircling me like a protective layer and his soft lips brushed my forehead, becoming a balm to my pain.

As we lay there, all the emotions and thoughts from the past flooded back to my mind and everything that i held back by using sheer determination crashed into me like waves in a tsunami.

"Ashly, I'm sorry..." The Master began but I quickly placed my index finger upon his pale lips.

"Don't talk, not now. I've missed you" I whispered, then with a deep sigh I clambered on top of him, my legs straddling his hips and I kissed him fiercely and he responded my running his hands through my hair and over my back all the way to my backside.

A deep and sensual growl escaped his lips and he roughly rolled on top of me, kissing me as though his life depended on it. And he was all mine and we were alone...